BOSTON — It took a severe concussion to knock Bruins forward Nathan Horton out of the lineup in the Stanley Cup Final.

A severe shoulder separation, however, didn’t stop him from playing the hero during the first three rounds of Boston’s run to the Cup championship.

While a couple days ago general manager Peter Chiarelli revealed Horton had suffered the injury, today during break-up day head coach Claude Julien explained the shoulder was actually injured early on and affected Horton throughout the playoffs.

Horton even missed a little time in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final before returning for the second period and eventually scoring a third-period goal in the 1-0 win.

“If you get hurt in the playoffs, it’s just a thing,” said Horton. “That’s what everybody says, you play through it. Obviously it didn’t feel good, but you just play through it. That’s it. Everyone does it and I’m not different.”

Horton also scored the overtime game-winning goals in Game 5 and 7 against Montreal with the injury. He said he won’t require surgery.

As far as his concussion, Horton said he’s been symptom-free for several days. So he should be able to resume normal activity later this summer after his usual amount of down time.

Although he didn’t get to participate in the final four games of the Cup Final, he was on hand for the celebration in Vancouver. He said the tightness of the Bruins’ team made him feel like a part of the victory.

“When you’re in the Stanley Cup finals and you’re playing in the playoffs, that’s what people do in the playoffs. They play through injuries and we had a lot of guys on our team with injuries,” he said. “Being injured again with the concussion, it was tough to watch. But it’s such a good feeling when we won, I felt like I was on the ice no matter what. …

“We have such great teammates. Injuries happen and just to be part of it and to feel like part of the team when you’re not playing … I feel like I played Game 7. So it was a good feeling.”